SparkPost is a Columbia, Maryland based cloud email API service firm. Recently the company announced the appointment of their new CEO Richard Harris who is a longtime tech entrepreneur. Harris will be succeeding Phillip Merrick, who was in charge of this position since 2014.
Under the leadership of Merrick, the firm has grown swiftly in revenue and headcount wise. In late 2015, SparkPost launched its cloud offering which positively impacted the company in terms of recurring revenue generation.
Merrick is leaving SparkPost to follow his passion for growing early-stage companies. “I am grateful to Phillip for his leadership of SparkPost over the past four years,” Schlossnagle continued. “He’s been a great partner, and I am proud of what we accomplished. All of us at the company wish him the best in his future endeavors.”
Harris is joining SparkPost at the right time, when the company’s growth graph is inclined upwards. Quite recently they shifted their headquarters into a new, 29,665 sqaurefoot office in Columbia. This new space has room for more than 200 employees, which is what the company is aiming at by hiring more software engineers, administrative and customer support professionals, and product managers by the end of this year.
“Premier businesses such as Zillow, Pinterest, Intercom, and The New York Times recognize that SparkPost’s email technology and service lead the market today,” said Harris. “SparkPost has an exceptional team and customer base and I’m excited about the company’s potential to deliver innovation and value.”
Harris’ career graph includes working with Oracle’s Data Cloud business unit as the Group Vice President, where he was responsible for the international operations. Before working with Oracle, he was the CEO of AddThis, where he was in the forefront to take the company through a fast growth which led to its being acquired by Oracle. Harris is an MBA and holds the JD degrees from the University of Maryland and has a B.A. in Economics from Denison University.
“When I met Rich, it was immediately clear why he has earned a reputation for leadership and strategic vision,” said George Schlossnagle, SparkPost founder and Chief Technology Officer. “I am delighted to welcome him to the company. Our team is eager to work with Rich through the next stage of our company’s growth.”
